Defense saves Mets in 9th in 3-2 victory over Cardinals

Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud, right,tags out Cardinals' Matt Carpenter as home plate umpire Marty Foster watches the play during the ninth inning Wednesday.

NEW YORK — Ruben Tejada, Travis d’Arnaud and Kirk Nieuwenhuis should join Kyle Farnsworth in getting credited with a save in Wednesday’s win over the Cardinals.

The trio all played a part in throwing out Matt Carpenter at the plate in the ninth inning as he attempted to score the tying run in the Mets’ 3-2 win at Citi Field.

The play preserved a big win as they defeated Michael Wacha despite his 10 strikeouts in four innings. Along the way, struggling right fielder Curtis Granderson snapped his 0-for-22 streak with a single and finished 1-for-3.

“There were three keys,” manager Terry Collins said of the game-saving play. “All three guys did their jobs.”

With the Mets (11-10) leading, 3-1, with one out and two men on in the ninth, Farnsworth served up a double to Daniel Descalso that scored a run. As Nieuwenhuis fired to Tejada, Carpenter raced home. Tejada caught the ball facing the outfield and turned and fired an absolute bullet to d’Arnaud.

The catcher, seeing out of his peripheral vision that Carpenter was to the side of him, reached out and grazed him near his armpit right before he touched home. The play was challenged, but after a review that lasted one minute and 20 seconds, the play was confirmed. Farnsworth retired Matt Holliday for the last out.

“I knew that there needed to be two perfect throws and [Nieuwenhuis] and Tejada had two perfect throws to give that play any chance,” d’Arnaud said.
He added: “My heart’s still racing.”

The Mets led the game in the ninth despite an incredible performance by Wacha, who set a career high in strikeouts. Wacha dominated the first three innings, recording each out via strikeout. Chris Young’s fielder’s choice in the fourth was the first out not to come via strikeout.

Once Wacha’s K streak was broken in the fourth, he also lost his command, and the Mets rallied to take the lead. Tejada walked with the bases loaded and one out to tie the game at 1, and Nieuwenhuis walked with bases loaded and two outs to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. New York walked three times in the third inning.

Wacha was the fourth pitcher since 1900 to strike out 10 or more in four innings or less, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“[We said] let’s work him to death, make him throw some pitches, see if we can get him out there and we finally did,” Collins said.

As the Mets failed to make contact in the first three innings, the one player who put the ball in play was the slumping Granderson. In his first at-bat, Granderson snapped his career-worst skid with a single to right field.

Collins said Granderson and the coaching staff have been analyzing video of his swing from the past, and slight tweaks have been made.

“The one thing I want to be careful is, I think you can use the video, but I don’t want to start changing somebody,” Collins said before the game. “You start tinkering, you can really mess him up.’’

As the Mets’ offense did just enough against Wacha, veteran Jon Niese (1-2) kept the defending National League champions at bay.

Entering Wednesday, Mets starters had a 1.98 ERA in their last eight games, and Niese continued that solid pitching. He allowed one run in 6ª innings.

“We’ve been playing well,” Niese said. “I look forward to good things to come.”